MAY 1, 2025 | OPINION | By James Flynn
He is risen! Though it may not be Easter, recent research shows a resurgence of belief in and commitment to the life of Jesus Christ among Americans under the age of 30, and it’s not hard to see why. Gen Z has endured the trauma of COVID-19, a surge in mental illness, one of the most stressful economies in U.S. history and immense pressures of social media. We are the guinea pigs of an unnatural technological upbringing, and the results have not been the most promising. For those curious about converting, here’s a beginner’s guide on how to in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Now, a difficult decision for many new Christian converts, especially those who did not grow up in the church, is which sect of Christianity to join. This choice is layered and complex; Christianity has thousands of denominations, which can be confusing for a faith rooted in the same book. That confusion only grows when one considers the misinformation spread about different sects, regional variations in sects across the U.S. and the sheer effort required to sort it all out. Faced with this, some might even turn away from conversion altogether. Think of this as your guide to the many options available within Christianity.
It only makes sense to begin with the most popular and well-known Christian branch in the world: Catholicism. Catholics believe the Church is the original kingdom of God, and the Catholic community assembled the scriptures into the Bible we know today. In Catholic teachings, the Church has the authority to forgive sins, cast out demons and interpret scripture. Catholics participate in Church services and believe that ritual is vital to salvation. That authority traces back to the belief that Jesus gave St. Peter the right to lead this “Kingdom of God” as the first Pope, and that a line of Popes has continued ever since.
Catholics believe the church can channel Christ and turn the bread and wine at Communion into the literal body and blood of Christ in a process called transubstantiation. The Communion is vital to their faith and connection with Jesus Christ.
This trust in the Church as the kingdom of God extends to prayer. Catholics pray to the Virgin Mary and the saints because they believe that they are part of the ongoing kingdom of God. Prayers directed only to God are less common, since all members of God’s kingdom are thought to have a direct pipeline to the Lord.
If you want a faith that offers clear answers to every question about Christianity and a deeply rooted, historically defined church structure, Catholicism may be the right choice. Keep in mind that most Catholic churches are not very progressive and uphold a form of biblical fundamentalism. This more conservative ideology maintains a strict and literal interpretation of the Bible.
Catholic Churches near Colorado College: St. Mary’s (22 W Kiowa St), Corpus Christi (2318 N Cascade Ave) and St. Paul’s Catholic Church (9 El Pomar Rd).
In stark contrast to Catholicism, Episcopalian churches are among the most progressive Christian bodies, often allowing female clergy members and relatively high levels of LGBTQ+ acceptance. In many respects, they share Catholic values, but in a more flexible and less fundamentalist way. The American Episcopal Church descends from the Church of England, which Henry VIII created when the Catholic Church refused his request to divorce Catherine of Aragon. By establishing a church that allowed divorce and requiring his subjects to follow it, he set in motion a tradition that kept the Catholic structure while leaving doctrine more open to interpretation.
Episcopalians respect the authority of bishops and view the Church as a gift from God, a community with roots in the apostles; however, they do not see church attendance as absolutely necessary for salvation in the same way Catholics do. They emphasize faith and devotion to Christ as the key to salvation and value church traditions and honor Mary and the saints without worshiping them, as they don’t believe in the notion of the church as an eternal Kingdom of God. They believe the Eucharist, a Christian ritual that celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus by sharing bread and wine, is a service in which Christ is truly present, but they do not hold that the bread and wine become His body and blood.
If this sounds confusing, don’t worry, most Episcopalians don’t even fully understand every detail of their own tradition, and that’s by design. It’s a deliberately flexible branch born of Henry VIII’s desire to remarry, and one can see that in its diversity of thought. Episcopal congregations range from very Catholic in style to quite Protestant, making it one of the most fluid Christian traditions. If you want a generally progressive church with the beauty of Gothic worship spaces often linked to Catholicism, the Episcopal Church could be the right fit for you.
Episcopalian Church near Colorado College: Grace and Stephen’s Episcopal Church
Right on Tejon (601 N Tejon St), a few blocks from campus, Grace and Stephen’s Episcopal Church stands out as the obvious choice. It’s highly progressive and has supposedly long been popular among CC students; there really is no need to look elsewhere.
The next group of sects falls under Protestantism. Protestantism broke from the Catholic Church during the Reformation and offers a more stripped-down form of Christianity that dominates in the United States and has shaped the nation in countless ways. At its core, Protestantism holds that salvation comes by faith alone. Church services may be valued but are not essential, and what matters most is cultivating a personal relationship with God and committing to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
One of the most widespread Protestant denominations is the Baptist church, especially in the Southern United States. Baptists affirm salvation by faith alone and stress a personal relationship with God. However, unlike most Protestants, they do not baptize infants. They see baptism as a symbol of having already become a believer, not as a means of washing away sin. Furthermore, baptism is therefore a personal choice that should be made with consent. It marks a conversion that has already happened rather than what ‘makes someone a Christian,’ which differs from what many Catholic and Protestant traditions believe.
Baptists place great authority on the Bible and tend to be fundamentalist and strict in their interpretation. If you value a personal relationship with God and salvation through following Christ’s teachings, the Baptist church may be right for you.
Baptist Church near Colorado College: First Baptist Church (317 E Kiowa Street)
This is the church I attend, and it’s the only Baptist church somewhat near the CC campus, so there’s genuinely no need to recommend any others. Speaking from experience, it has wonderful people, a nice pastor, beautiful architecture and is overall a wonderful community that I highly recommend.
However, Lutherans differ from Baptists in that they believe baptism makes you a Christian and secures salvation, so they do baptize infants. They are quite fundamentalist, holding every word of the Bible as true and not open to personal interpretation and therefore have mostly conservative and evangelical congregations. Like Catholics, they believe the body and blood of Christ are truly present in communion. However, unlike Catholics, they do not view the Church as the “Kingdom of God” and emphasize, like Baptists, the importance of a personal relationship with God and salvation through faith rather than through church attendance.
Lutheran Church near Colorado College: First Lutheran Church (1515 N Cascade Ave)
Methodist churches, on the other hand, vary widely by congregation, but at their core they share key Lutheran ideas: salvation through faith and infant baptism, though they do not teach that Christ’s body and blood are literally present in communion. Their main difference, however, is that they embrace the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, a belief that Scripture is interpreted through the lenses of tradition, reason and personal experience. That approach has given rise to both very liberal and very conservative Methodist congregations.
At the heart of Methodism is the work of the Holy Spirit and the journey toward sanctification: a state of perfect love for God in which one no longer sins at all. Methodists dedicate their lives to drawing ever closer to that holiness through acts of service and charity. While salvation comes by faith alone, Methodists believe that true faith is shown by service and by growing closer and closer to sanctification. Reaching complete sanctification is not required for salvation, but striving for it is a central expression of their devotion.
Methodists, unlike other Protestants like Presbyterians, emphasize free will. In Methodist belief, it’s possible to resist God’s grace and fall from the path of sanctification even after conversion. One must continually demonstrate one’s faith to stay on the road to salvation. If you embrace the idea of sanctification and becoming a ‘perfect’ Christian, the Methodist church may be the right fit. Even if you don’t, many Methodist congregations engage in social justice work and support LGBTQ+ rights, so it could be the right community for you in that sense.
Methodist Churches near Colorado College: First United Methodist Church (Right near campus and very progressive on 420 N Nevada Ave) & East United Methodist Church (A bit further from campus on 1505 E Monument St and doesn’t emphasize progressive ideologies in the same way that the First United Methodist Church does)
Hopefully, this overview gives some clarity to the different Christian sects that many new potential converts don’t know much about. Keep in mind that many of these sects have their conservatives and liberals, varying congregations and overall varying ideologies. Your decision of which sect to join could be based on any of these factors, and doesn’t have to be based on faith alone or which one you ‘really believe.’ If your main goal with church is the community, then the particular sect may be irrelevant. If your main goal is to find a progressive church, then the sect may be irrelevant, or it may not be. If your main goal is full faith and devotion to Christ, then first figuring out what you actually believe in is an important first step, and from there, this information could help you find your sect. Because Christianity has so much variety, many sects weren’t even talked about in this article, but this covers the main ones in the Colorado Springs area and the continental United States. Perhaps this was so confusing and paradoxical that you are now an atheist, and that is also a completely valid reaction to the insane amount of variation in the Christian faith. Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, I hope this was informative and at the very least interesting.